Young boy killed by squirrel poison in 1955: A young boy and his sister stumbled upon a jar of discontinued squirrel poison in 1955, leading to a tragic incident and shock throughout the Bethel Island community.

The 4-year-old boy died within a short time of eating thallium-laced barley from a jar in his Bethel Island home.

His 6-year-old sister remained in the hospital in serious condition.

The children broke into a cupboard, unknown to their parents, and found the jar, police said at the time.

The jar was a leftover from previous homeowners and that type of poison had been discontinued.

Police didn’t figure out what was wrong with the boy until chickens in the area began dying for the same reason, according to the 1955 Brentwood News.

25 years ago

Bethel Island man wins big: Almost 60 years to the day before an Oakley man gained local media attention from winning the lottery and declaring he was going to spend it partially on Warriors tickets, a 70-year-old Bethel Island man took home an even greater prize.

Harvey Craig, who had been deaf for 55 years when he won, scored a $15.5 million jackpot in 1990 after buying a “Quick Pick” ticket at the Liberty Valco Drug Store in Brentwood.

Craig waited until the following day to tell his wife, after the news had sunk in a little more.

“I wasn’t excited because I didn’t believe it,” his wife said.

Craig said he didn’t anticipate too big of a lifestyle change and that he planned to spend a lot of the money on his kid and grandkids.

“It’s a good place to get rid of a lot of that green stuff,” he quipped.